Gannett to Crowdsource News - Why communities dominate brands!

Crowdsourcing – such an elegant term. Like group forming network theory and collectve intelligence and citizen journalism

But is crowd sourcing going to join the lexicon of integated marketing, User Generated Content, Buzz Marketing et al?

So nice story from wired on how perhaps a old media company gets it!!

According to internal documents provided to Wired News and interviews with key executives, Gannett, the publisher of USA Today as well as 90 other American daily newspapers, will begin crowdsourcing many of its newsgathering functions. Starting Friday, Gannett newsrooms were rechristened "information centers," and instead of being organized into separate metro, state or sports departments, staff will now work within one of seven desks with names like "data," "digital" and "community conversation

So whats crowd sourcing? And whats it got with print media?

Like other newspaper publishing companies, Gannett has watched its share price slide steadily southward, losing 30 percent of its value since January 2004. Although newspapers still post healthy profits, circulation has declined precipitously as more and more readers migrate to the internet, non-journalistic news sources like The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, and on-the-scene videos posted to Youtube.com. Readership figures in the 18- to 34-year-old demographic have been especially dispiriting, and Wall Street has aggressively demanded that papers cut costs and adapt to rapid changes in technology.

Other large publishers are already experimenting with bringing readers into a more participatory role, and a host of citizen-journalism projects like NowPublic and NewAssignment.Net have sprung up in the last few years. But because of its reach, Gannett's move could bring these issues into the mainstream.

Participation, engagement, co-creation is something we have so often talked about.

But why should you engaged? Because its your life, your money, your community – YOUR LIFE

The most prominent example, Carroll said, occurred this summer with The News-Press in Fort Myers, Florida. In May, readers from the nearby community of Cape Coral began calling the paper, complaining about the high prices -- as much as $28,000 in some cases -- being charged to connect newly constructed homes to water and sewer lines.

Maness asked the News-Press to employ a new method of looking into the complaints. "Rather than start a long investigation and come out months later in the paper with our findings we asked our readers to help us find out why the cost was so exorbitant," said Kate Marymont, the News-Press' editor in chief.

The response overwhelmed the paper, which has a circulation of about 100,000. "We weren't prepared for the volume, and we had to throw a lot more firepower just to handle the phone calls and e-mails," Marymont said.

From engineers, to accountants, whistle blowers (I hate the term) and a whole lot besides, a community gathered around this particular problem.

The effect so great that

Maness said the experience was so encouraging that Gannett will roll out the new approach in all of its newsrooms. "We're going to restructure everything in how we gather news and information. We'll shift our eyes and ears on the ground from reporters to the crowd."

Sources at several papers, from The Indianapolis Star to The Cincinnati Enquirer to the Burlington (Vermont) Free Press, said Gannett corporate headquarters had directed them to adopt the new approach.

What we have seen and witnessed over thast 15 months is a body politic that wants to engage, given the right context, in a process that they can share in, be part of.

I wonder if the Johnston Press or any other print media is watching this space?

Korte said he feels that crowdsourcing holds a great deal of promise for certain "pocketbook" issues, like the sewage scandal in Fort Myers, but that it will take a lot of thought and experimentation before discovering how best to utilize the approach.

We're serious about this,. Do we have it licked? No. But we're ahead of the curve. By maybe half a step.

? I would say so!

So crowd sourcing an elegant term, but the question is why, Why do people commit their time and energy to do such things.

So I urge you to search on this site for: Group Forming Network Theory, Collective intelligence, the Wealth of Networks, Why is social Mobile Networking worth $3.45bn? Darwinism, OhMyNews, and repossessing folk culture for the 21st Century. As a few pointers...

More to follow

Comments

[Tom Chandler]

I think there's little stronger than a band of shared passions and values. Once an organization demonstrates that it shares the passions or values of its readers/customers/prospects, engagement is often a given.

Nike's Joga site is clearly designed to forever wed its name to "soccer" (ok, "football") in the minds of the site's participants.

Great story!

[David Cushman]

Alan, thanks for this. Very timely particularly as emap (the firm I work for) is undergoing a strategic review of its media business with the assistance of the Boston Consultancy Group.